Equity release: safeguards and protection
What is equity release?
Equity release can help you to access tax-free cash from the value of your home. With a Lifetime Mortgage, the UK’S most popular form of equity release, you can access your property’s wealth in a tax-free lump sum or reserve some funds for later use.
Releasing equity is a great way to gain funds in your leisure years as there are no required affordability checks, with how much you can release being primarily determined by the value of the home and the age of the youngest homeowner instead.
What are the advantages of a Lifetime Mortgage?
Lifetime Mortgages can be highly varied and include different features to protect your interests, based on your unique situation. At Reader’s Digest Equity Release, we have filtered the products currently offered by different lenders to
provide our customers with a selection of the most suitable, with qualified advice available to then help you assess your options.
Your adviser will also discuss with you the alternatives to equity release, and the impact of each option, to reach a decision as to whether equity release is the best solution for you.
What protections are in place?
The Equity Release Council (ERC) is the industry body which aims to ensure best practice from providers, protect customers, and reduce risk. They hold their members to a set of guidelines, and these guidelines are at the forefront of the service that Reader’s Digest Equity Release provide.
With a Lifetime Mortgage you have the right to remain in your home for life and you will also retain full ownership. You will also never owe more than the value of your home thanks to the no-negative-equity guarantee built into all plans provided by Erc-approved lenders. The loan is only repaid when the youngest homeowner no longer resides in the property, either after they have passed away or moved into permanent long-term care.
As you are releasing equity from your home now, the funds remaining for your estate in the future will be reduced. An expert adviser will be able to help you to manage the impact that releasing equity will have on the value of your estate and entitlement to means-tested benefits.
They will discuss the features and risks and provide you with a personalised illustration so that you can accurately view how the loan will change over time.
If you’re interested in how equity release can help you, call us today.
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Reader’s Digest Equity Release is a trading style of Responsible Life Limited. Only if you choose to proceed and your case completes will Responsible Life Limited charge an advice fee, currently not exceeding £1,490.